Strategy and innovation for sustainable development

In 2020, the WBCSD Leadership Program brought together 42 participants from WBCSD member companies under the theme of Strategy and innovation for sustainable development. When developing a strategy, innovation is key to future-proofing and adapting business models and product service offerings. In other words, innovation is critical to building a sustainable world. New technologies are unlocking unprecedented possibilities. However, new technology can also come with new challenges – especially in relation to human and social capital and the future of work. During the year, participants wrote individual and group reports.

This document provides a summary of the six group reports:

• Using lessons from the pandemic to drive action on sustainability
• Strategy, risk and resilience
• Integrating sustainability value communication into strategy
• Understanding how intangible assets build effective partnerships for systemic change
• Energy technologies for efficient management and transition to clean energy 
• Technology-enabled traceability and transparency remain critical to addressing deforestation